


Late

by tonia_barone



Series: Unexpected [1]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Difficult Decisions, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Season/Series 03 Spoilers, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-19 15:29:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10642737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tonia_barone/pseuds/tonia_barone
Summary: Iris stared at the piece of plastic in her hand, her blood pounding in her ears, and a sense of numbness slowly sinking in.





	

Iris stared at the piece of plastic in her hand, her blood pounding in her ears, and a sense of numbness slowly sinking in.  When she’d been late a couple of weeks ago, Iris thought it was just the stress of knowing she had less than four months to live.  It’s happened before; back when Zoom had broken Barry’s back, she’d been so worried about him that she’d completely missed a month.  The only reason she didn’t test then was because she hadn’t been with anyone since Eddie.  

She and Eddie had had a scare, too.  It was while Eddie was kidnapped.  After he was found, she’d realized that she was late.  Iris had made excuses to leave his hospital room, and found a sympathetic nurse to run the test.  When it had come back negative, she’d been disappointed.  In the middle of dealing with the Reverse Flash was the last time she’d want to be pregnant, but her and Eddie had talked about having kids one day.  After he was gone, she thought back to that close call and mourned that now she’d never have a little part of Eddie always with her.

But now…

Iris stared at the piece of plastic in her hand, and she sobbed.  She was going to die in a little over three months.  She would barely be into her second trimester when Savitar killed her.  There was no way the baby—no, the fetus; she couldn’t think of it as her baby or she’d break--would be viable, even with medical intervention.  Babies born prior to 21 weeks never survived; babies born around 21 weeks had a hard enough time surviving hooked up to monitors and life support.  This was something she’d looked up while waiting for the nurse to get back to her on the results; it was a legitimate worry given the lives they led.

An indeterminate amount of time later, Iris took a deep breath and wiped her eyes.  One thing that Iris was positive about is that Barry must never find out.  He was already torn up over the thought of losing her.  Knowing that their baby would also die would destroy him.  And even if she never told him, he’d learn because of course it would come up in the autopsy report; and there would be one.  Her death, her murder, would be cause enough for an autopsy.  Whether Caitlin did it, or an actual medical examiner, they would feel obligated to inform Barry that she was four months along when she died. 

Iris wrapped the positive test in tissue and stuffed it into the small basket for feminine hygiene products next to the toilet.  She had taken the test during her lunch break, thankfully, so she didn’t have to worry about Barry finding out.  Another sob escaped her, and she quickly cleaned up and left the stall.  Washing her hands, Iris considered her options.  Barry couldn’t know.  If she did nothing, he’d find out when she died.  It’d ruin him to find out like that.  He’d likely do something drastic, such as travel back in time to rescue her.  Barry’s messed with time too much for Iris to allow that to happen.

Her reflection stared back at her in despair.  There was really only one option left.  Oh, she was crying again.  Iris leaned down to splash cold water on her face.  If she went back out there crying, Linda would ask what was wrong.  Barry’s ex had never had hard feelings toward Iris for being the reason he’d broken up with her, and they grabbed lunch together at least once a week.  She was one of Iris’ best friends, outside of Team Flash, and Linda would pick up immediately that something was wrong.  Reporters were excellent at reading people, after all.

When she thought she looked respectable enough, Iris left the bathroom, and walked down the hall to the stairwell.  She would call her doctor, get a referral, and have this taken care of as quietly as possible.  With how nauseous she’d been lately, it wouldn’t be hard to explain the doctor visits.  Iris knew Barry was quietly wondering if this was why.  He was a forensic scientist; of course he noticed details and drew conclusions from them.  It would hurt to lie to him, but she had no other choice.

She just hoped that he’d forgive her, if he ever found out.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic deals with abortion. I understand that abortion is a hot-button topic for a number of people. I am not going to apologize for using it, however, because I am of the opinion that too many people put their heads in the sand about it. I thought about adding a tag about it, and I might if enough people mention it, but I thought it would spoil the fic. 
> 
> This comes from a personal frustration of mine. When unplanned pregnancy is brought up in fics, it always has one outcome: the person in possession of a uterus has the baby, no matter how reluctant they might be initially. Abortion is talked about, but never taken as a serious option. The fact that abortion never occurs in fics except against the person's will, because of _course_ everyone in possession of a uterus wants children, is a big pet peeve of mine. Yes, I am pro-choice and I personally would never give birth, but I am a transgender man and the thought of even becoming pregnant is abhorrent to me for _numerous_ reasons.


End file.
